Trapped
by fawnjams
Summary: While in the middle of a fight, Beck and Jade get trapped in an elevator together. Bade.
1. Chapter 1

Long black fingernails tapping against a circular bronze button. A pair of lips pressed so tightly together that they'd begun to turn white. Eyes narrowed and nose wrinkled and posture tense and hostile. Jade West was definitely not in a good mood, and she wanted everyone to know it—especially her boyfriend. She didn't dare steal a glance at him, though; she knew he was looking in her direction.

 _Good._ Just because she was absolutely pissed at him didn't mean that she didn't deserve his full attention.

Beck could only let out a heavy sigh as he stood beside her—not too close, but close enough that she wouldn't be able to yell at him for 'straying too far' or 'avoiding her.' Which he wasn't. But he also had absolutely no clue what to do. Yes, she was definitely pissed. And, yes, it was most definitely _his_ fault. When she was upset with someone else, he wouldn't hear the end of it from her. But no, when she was upset with him... full-on silent treatment.

Yup. He'd surely messed up somehow.

And he was pretty sure how. Although, of course, it wasn't like he _had_ done anything wrong. At least in his eyes. And the eyes of everyone else, probably. He'd simply invited Jade to come along with him while he visited a sick friend in the hospital. And... Okay, sure, that sick friend may have been Tori Vega, someone his girlfriend made every effort to publicly embarrass and shame whenever she had the opportunity. But... come on. It wasn't like Beck was visiting her so he could confess his undying love for the girl. He'd urged his girlfriend to come with him, after all.

Besides, Tori had just gotten her tonsils out, robbing her of her voice for at least a week. Beck had figured Jade would at least sympathize a little, seeing as she valued her own voice just as much as Tori did.

But, no. Although she had gotten in the car with him, she was absolutely silent for the entire ride to the hospital, her fingernails tapping against the window just as they were now tapping at the elevator button. She absolutely refused to look at him, only acknowledging his presence with an exaggerated _sigh_ every few minutes.

Beck knew talking would only aggravate her more... but what was he supposed to do? He didn't want her to be in a mood like this while they visited their recovering friend. And he didn't dare heighten her anger by making her wait outside while he checked in on Tori. No... this had to be resolved right now.

As he exhaled, he turned to face her.

"You... ready to talk?" he prompted, trying to keep his voice even and light, as he'd realized a bit too that his words sounded borderline hostile. Beck knew his role very well in situations like this, so the way he acted was key. If Jade was a raging storm, he was a lightning rod, capturing and retaining her energy and anger until she finally burned herself out—heavy rain becoming a light, steady drizzle.

Jade simply huffed, making no effort to hide how she rolled her eyes. "You act like there's something to talk about." Her voice stung with venom, her words saying one thing but her inflection showing that, no, there was definitely _something_ to talk about.

He ran a hand through his hair, holding back a heavy sigh. _Didn't she see that both of them had had long days at school? That they were only there at the hospital to support their sick friend?_

...

He asked himself questions like these like they actually mattered. No, when Jade was mad, she was mad. It could probably be the last day of the world and she'd find something to yell at him about. But... he couldn't complain. At least, not aloud. She was his girlfriend, after all. If he wanted out, she made it very clear that he could leave.

No. He didn't want out. But that didn't stop him from getting pretty damn frustrated sometimes.

As Beck opened his mouth to speak, though, the elevator doors slipped open with a gentle _ding,_ welcoming them inside. Jade smirked, pleased with herself for getting the last word, and made a move to step inside. But she was stopped by Beck wrapping his arm around her elbow, stopping her from entering. He swiftly led her to the side, keeping his grip on her tight as he gave the group of people standing behind them access to the elevator. "We're gonna take the next one," he said smoothly, plastering an easy, sweet grin on his face. A couple heads nodded in his direction as they boarded, the doors closing silently behind them a few seconds later.

"What the hell was that about?" Jade immediately demanded, yanking her arm away from him and finally turning to face him. As her piercing eyes glared into his, Beck could only feel relief. Finally, the silent treatment was over. For better or for worse, she was finally showing her anger.

Beck shrugged, trying to remain cool and calm. "You were the one who was refusing to talk to me. Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

She huffed. "You think I _want_ to be here?"

"You came, didn't you?"

"Because YOU were my only ride home! What was I _supposed_ to do?! I know how much asking you to drop me off would _inconvenience_ you." She hissed out every word at him, her upper lip curling into a sneer.

"You know that you're never an inconvenience," he immediately retorted, his voice still even and cool. "But I figured that _you_ wouldn't have a problem with visiting our friend in the hospital. After she's had _surgery_."

"You say that like she's my friend," she shot back, trying to make him feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

It worked. But he didn't let it show.

He ran another hand through his hair, searching for the correct words. None came. _Oh well._

"Well... yeah. She is. No matter how many times you try to push her away and make fun of her." Beck couldn't help but raise his voice a bit, unable to hide his frustration. _Why did they always go back to having this fight?_ "You wouldn't be here right now if you didn't care about her. It's not like I can force you to do anything."

 _Oof. Bad move._ He knew that his tone was doing the exact opposite of his original intention—and, judging by the way Jade was obviously fuming, there would be no calming the storm for quite a while. Beck mentally kicked himself. He shouldn't have engaged her... at least not here. He certainly had no qualms against having a full-blown argument with his girlfriend—it was how they resolved most things, after all—but this was not the time or place. And, while the reasonable part of his brain knew that he should be doing damage control, working only to calm her down for the time being, he couldn't help the anger bubbling up inside of himself.

This wasn't going to end well, and they both knew it.

Jade wrinkled her nose, tightening her right hand into a fist as she continued to glare up at him. "Is that so?! As if _you_ weren't the one who was so incredibly desperate to go and comfort Vega? That I'M the one who dragged YOU here?!" She dug her fingernails into her skin, her voice getting louder by the second. "You just wanted to nurse that poor, sweet little angel back to health with that oh-so charming demeanor of yours!" she added in that exaggerated drawl she always used when mocking Tori.

Her voice was attracting attention, and she knew it. _Who cared._ If Beck didn't want her to do this, then he shouldn't have bothered talking to her in the first place. Or bringing her there in the first place. Or doing _anything_ in the first place.

Not after all the effort she'd gone through to... Ugh.

Beck let out a heavy sigh, unable to keep his composure when she was practically shouting across the hospital, turning far too many heads in their direction. "Why do you always have to make a scene when we're in public?" he couldn't help but shoot back, his voice a bit louder than he'd intended.

She narrowed her eyes, sinking her nails even deeper into the palm of her hand, managing to pierce the skin and draw a bit of blood. "And I bet that _Tori_ would _never_ do something like this, right?" she demanded, almost breathless with anger. "Well, guess what! I'm NOT Tori! Unfortunately for you!"

 _Whoops._ They both knew that her words were more than a petty jab at Beck and Tori's friendship. No. Once again, he was able to view just how far deep her insecurity ran, which frustrated her to her very core. Sure. She was possessive. He would probably be too if she went around kissing random boys in front of him. And never actually apologizing for it.

He took a deep breath, ready to immediately retort back, when the sound of footsteps rushing towards them stole his attention. He recognized the silhouette of Andre, another one of their school friends, rushing towards them. What was that in his arms? Something big and translucent and... drippy?

Beck immediately clamped his jaw shut, balling his hands into fists as well—a mirror image of his girlfriend.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Andre breathed as he approached the pair, his eyes flitting between the two of them. He gripped a tub of chocolate ice cream in his hand, the condensation forming on the plastic making his hands feel sticky and gross. He probably should've guessed that the unforgiving Hollywood heat would've made quick work of the frozen cream, but... the air conditioning would help cool it down, right? He'd tried to get from the grocery store to the hospital—ice cream is supposed to help after throat surgery, wasn't it?—before it became a tub of chocolate-y mush, but he'd only gotten a few steps inside the door when he noticed the notoriously loud couple screaming at each other by the elevators... and the uncomfortable, wide-eyed strangers watching them.

"You guys know that this isn't Hollywood Arts, right?!" he asked breathlessly. "This is a hospital. You know... where sick people are. And the families of those sick people."

Beck's head fell just slightly at his friend's words, embarrassed. Andre was right, obviously. _Why did he let himself yell like that?_ He hated making a scene.

"And none of them have any idea who the two of you are," Andre continued, naturally and effortlessly fulfilling his routine role as the couple's mediator, "so they can't tune out you guys and your beef like the rest of us do. So, i mean... if you're gonna fight... at least do it in Tori's room, alright?"

Beck nodded, looking up to meet his friend's eyes. "Yeah, man... Sorry about that."

The two of them turned towards Jade expectantly, who simply crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one foot, her mouth a straight line. "Uh-huh," she muttered finally, her voice softer but obviously still just as irritated.

With a quick glance, the couple mutually agreed to take a time-out—the interruption by Andre had broken them both from their angry stupors. Their white flags raised for the moment, they would just have to continue the fight back at Beck's trailer.

Andre nodded, breaking a small, easy smile. "Alright, cool. Sorry for going all preachy on you guys." He reached forward and quickly tapped the elevator button, drumming his fingers along the tub of ice cream excitedly. Seeing the two pairs of eyes staring at the container, he let out a quick laugh. "Haha, I figured Tori could use something to make her throat feel better... And I wouldn't mind digging into some chocolate ice cream either."

He laughed again, and Beck joined in, grinning as well. It was half-hearted, sure, but it was still a smile. What else was he supposed to do? There wouldn't be any more fighting for the time being. Might as well focus on having a good time with his friends and helping Tori feel better, right?

Jade, on the other hand, was fuming. _What on Earth was wrong with him?!_ How could he be smiling and laughing without a care in the world when she was _obviously_ upset? She mentally cursed herself. Why had _she_ put so much effort into surprising him in the first place? She should've known that witch would've found some way to ruin it. And now he'd never have any idea of what she was planning, because they'd miss it. They'd miss everything, and she'd still be the jealous, territorial, horrible girlfriend everyone saw her as.

Because of Vega.

But, of course, everything was her fault lately, wasn't it? _What on Earth did Beck see in her?_

For better or for worse, her thoughts were interrupted by the chime of the elevator, the doors sliding open. Beck quickly stepped inside, and Jade begrudgingly followed suit, making sure to situate herself in the back of the elevator—as far away from him as possible.

Andre was about to join the two when he suddenly stopped, staring down at the tub in his hands.

"Ah, shoot!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. He looked up and met Beck's eyes, his own shining with panic. "I forgot to grab spoons! ... Do you think I could steal some from the cafeteria?"

Beck shrugged, leaning forward to place his arm between the elevator doors before they could close on him. "Probably. I mean, I don't see why not. But don't you think you should drop the ice cream off in Tori's room first—"

His words were cut short as Andre shook his head, his brow furrowing. "Nah, it has to be a surprise! I..." He turned to the side, shaking his head again. "I'll go find it! I'll just—I'll meet you guys up there, okay?!" And, without another word, he rushed away, desperately searching for a sign to direct him to the whereabouts of the hospital cafeteria.

Beck simply stood there, agape at the boy's sudden exit. Before he could register what had happened, Jade snapped from the back of the elevator, "Move your damn arm, Beck." So, without a word, he complied, letting the doors close in front of them as he watched the fleeting figure of his friend and his comically large tub of chocolate ice cream scamper away.

Tapping the button that corresponded to the floor Tori was on—he'd checked her room number with Trina the day before—he sighed and moved to join Jade at the back of the elevator, leaning against the mirrored wall. _They had a truce, right?_ She should have no qualms with him standing moderately close to her.

And yet, she did.

... And yet, she held her tongue. Jade simply rolled her eyes in response to his movement, realizing that if she did try to pick a fight with him, it'd be pointless. They weren't going to be in the elevator for even a minute. Although Jade could start an argument over absolutely anything (a fact that she prided herself in), she also knew when to pick her battles.

A deeper part of her knew that the actual reason her venomous words had stopped themselves in the middle of her throat was because she didn't want to upset him any further. It was obvious that he was frustrated—and with her, no doubt, which was something that made her more uncomfortable than she was used to. _God._ Sometimes she absolutely _hated_ the hold he had on her.

The two simply stared at the sign above the elevator, watching the numbers increase as they moved from floor to floor. The silence that stood between them after their red-faced argument only minutes ago was somehow... awkward.

 _2..._

 _3..._

With a jolt, the elevator immediately came to a halt, shaking the walls a bit and jostling both of them from their positions against the wall. Before the pair could react any further, though, the lights soon flickered off as well, casting them both in darkness.

And then, it was absolutely pitch black. Jade couldn't see her own body, not the mention the elevator doors in front of her. _Huh._ Weird.

Beck, on the other hand, was unable stop the panic from sweeping over him. He couldn't help but reach out for Jade, wrapping his hand around hers. He squeezed it as tightly as he could, clamping his eyes shut. Were they about to die? Was the elevator about the fall, plummeting them both to their death? Had they wasted the last few minutes of their lives in some frivolous argument?

 _Screw it._ If they were about to die, they weren't going to in the middle of some petty fight. He was going to hold her hand so tight that they'd have to be buried together, decaying into a pair of skeleton lovers that archaeologists would dig up centuries later, looking like some cheesy decoration you'd see in some dumb haunted house.

He stood there, waiting for imminent death... but it never came.

A few moments later, the lights flickered back on, the sign above the elevator doors noting that they were still on the 3rd floor.

Oh.

Mortified, Beck swiftly dropped her hand, staring intently down at his shoes. _Nope. No skeleton lovers today._

Jade, on the other hand, was incredibly amused—although she didn't dare show it. What a loser. She couldn't even be mad at him for the moment. He'd just added something new to her arsenal... a weapon to tease him with. _'Remember when you and I were fighting but you still grabbed my hand when the lights in the elevator turned off? Remember what a huge wimp you were?'_

Such thoughts entertained her in the silence that ensued.

... _Huh._ Strange. The elevator still wasn't moving. How long had it been? A minute... two minutes?

...

...

...

"Oh my god," Beck sighed, running a hand through his hair—both a gesture made when he was at ease and when he was anxious. "Is it—I mean. Is it really not gonna move?"

Jade immediately snapped out of her daze, quickly glancing between Beck and the doors. Huh. _Why wasn't the elevator moving?_ Had the lights flickering been the sign of a small power outage—stopping their elevator from reaching its destination? But... why hadn't it begun to move again once the lights turned back on?

 _Crappy hospital._

As the minutes ticked by, absolutely nothing happening to change their situation, the heavy realization dawned on the two of them.

They were... trapped.

So, knowing that she had no reason to continue with her silent charade any longer, Jade simply said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, shit."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: haha thanks so much for the reviews so far... i joined the victorious community rly late so its nice to see that people are still around! also! sorry if updates are a bit slow** **—with school starting up this month, i've been kinda busy! thank you for reading though omg omg omg x_x**

* * *

"Uh."

Jade glanced up at her boyfriend, cocking a brow. It had been almost two minutes since she'd spoken, and the silence between them was beginning to turn from stunned to awkward. _Why wasn't he doing anything? Why was he just standing there like a complete idiot?_ And what was 'uh' even supposed to mean? What was she supposed to take away from that? Once again, he was contributing absolutely nothing. And it was up to _her_ to actually fix the situation.

Like _always._

"'Uh?'" she questioned, acid dripping from her voice. "What do you mean, 'uh?' Do you seriously have _no_ idea of what to do?"

Beck glanced up, his face expressionless. If anything, he looked... nervous? Scared? Even _he_ had no idea how he was feeling. Or. Maybe he was feeling too many things at once. Frustration. Regret. Anxiety. Why did _their_ elevator have to break? When they were in the middle of a fight? Why couldn't they have just gone up to see Tori and then left? Why didn't they just get on that earlier elevator? Why had Beck stopped them from boarding it? So they could argue with each other? In _public_ , no doubt? And why was Jade still acting like that? Shouldn't she have put aside her anger with him aside for the moment so they could work through the problem together? And why why _why_ did she always have to make him feel like such a huge idiot?

Of course, he knew exactly what she would've said if she could've heard his thoughts. 'Because you're an idiot.'

And... maybe he was. But she was a hothead. A big, stubborn, jealous hothead. A loud, know-it-all, attention-demanding, prideful, angry, unforgiving, resentful hothead.

... Whose hand he grabbed when he thought they were about to die.

Whatever. That didn't matter right now. Unfortunately, Beck had bigger problems to worry about.

"Do _you_?" he questioned, unable to keep the accusatory edge out of his voice. "Exactly how many times have you been trapped in an elevator?"

Jade curled her lip, her irritation increasing once again. She'd gone for a cheap attempt to tease him earlier to test the waters, knowing that if he wasn't upset with her he would've attempted to play along with her or _at least_ not have acted so offended. No. Beck was obviously upset. And, while most people found the aggressive, in-your-face display she put on when she was angry absolutely unbearable, she personally could not _stand_ how passive aggressive her boyfriend was when he was upset. At least she told him how she felt when she was mad. Rolling his eyes at her wouldn't help solve anything. If he wanted to say something, he should just say it. God knows she always did.

But. For once, she wasn't in the mood to fight. Not today at least. Looks like she'd have to be the mature one.

"About as many times as you've actually had something worthwhile to say," she shot back without thinking.

 _Shit._ Okay. That... wasn't mature. This was going to take more effort than expected.

"I... mean," she quickly backtracked, ignoring the frustrated look on Beck's face. "... Whatever. Just. Call someone, okay? Unless you were stupid enough to forget your phone, too."

He sighed, digging his hand into his pocket. "I don't see why you couldn't just call with yours," he muttered, making Jade clench her teeth. _God._ This passive aggressive attitude wasn't going to fly. At least _she_ was making an effort to play nice? At least... in her own way. She wasn't trying to be mean. Teasing him was just what she did.

"It's dead," she responded, her voice a bit softer—surprising both Beck and herself.

He couldn't help but cock a brow, slightly alarmed by her change in tone. He was sure that she was just as angry as he was... although he was having some trouble trying to remember what he was angry about in the first place. Weren't they supposed to still be fighting? It wasn't like his anger had an 'off switch.' The case was always the same for her, too. At least... he was pretty sure.

 _Oh well._ He silently dug his phone out of his pocket, scrolling silently for a moment. He didn't dare ask Jade who he should call. He didn't need an excuse for her to look through his contacts and yell at him about all of the feminine-sounding names he had added. Seeing her jealous was usually pretty amusing, and he liked entertaining it, but... not right now.

Beck's thumb stopped on Andre's number. Seemed reasonable enough, since they knew for sure that he was at the hospital. And although it seemed completely unlikely that the staff would be unaware of the elevator breaking, he could at least go and ask someone for help or for the status of their rescue. He selected the 'call' button and held the phone up to his ear. It only rang once before the call was answered.

"Howdy!"

Oh _God._

The voice of another one of their mutual friends, Robbie Shapiro, answered.

 _What bad luck_. Although Robbie was someone Beck considered one of his closest friends, he definitely wasn't in the mood for putting up with him right now. Andre was always much more collected and to the point, and he admired that quality in him. Long story short: if he wanted to talk to Robbie, he would've called him instead. This was just... pretty much the worst possible time.

"Hey," Beck replied, unable to stop himself from sighing. "Rob... why do you have Andre's phone?" he added, unable to help himself from asking.

"He stole it from him when he went in to visit Tori so he could play Grumpy Gerbils," another voice responded. Rex. Robbie's... puppet.

"Shut _up_!" Robbie shot back, frustrated. "I didn't steal it! He said I could borrow it! Besides, Beck, Grumpy Gerbils is too hard on my phone. I'm trying to download it here to see if I got a wonky version or something."

"Nope. You're just horrible," Rex responded, followed by a soft shuffling noise that was probably Robbie shoving Rex in response. The two of them quarreled like children. To an outsider, they probably seemed like the funniest ventriloquist duo ever. But, to most of the Hollywood Arts students... they were unbearable.

Beck paused, closing his eyes in frustration. He was not in the mood for this right now. Usually Robbie and Rex's antics were tolerable to the very most, but. Not now. "Dude. Just listen to me, alright?"

"Oh," Robbie responded, ending his silent argument with Rex. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes—" Beck began, catching himself. His automatic impulse whenever a question like that was asked was to answer affirmatively. Didn't matter if he was actually having the absolute worst day of his life. It was his business, after all. He didn't wanna bother anyone with his problems. The only person he really felt comfortable talking about deep stuff around was, well... Jade. But it didn't seem like they'd be doing anything like that anytime soon. "No," he amended. "I mean... not really. Jade and I are, like... trapped in an elevator? I don't remember which one it is, but... Can you like, tell a nurse or something? Because we're... yeah."

"Oh!" Robbie exclaimed. "Was that because of that power outage?! Wow! I thought stuff like that only happened on TV... Are the lights off? Wait! Is it shaking? Wait, wait... Are you sure you're _really_ stuck? Did you try pressing the buttons?"

Beck rolled his eyes to himself, causing Jade to cock a brow. Although he still wasn't really in the mood for entertaining Robbie right now, he didn't mind a little help. She seemed to have caught on to the fact that he was talking to Robbie, but she'd only heard Beck's side of the conversation. Amused, he couldn't help but smile a little. "Robbie wants to know if we're really stuck," he explained.

Jade huffed, not missing a beat, and stepped closer, leaning in towards his phone. "If you're so curious, why don't you just come in here with us?" she demanded, almost yelling into the phone. She was using that cocky, teasing tone she usually used when they were at school—and almost always around Tori.

" _Can_ I?!" he questioned, never able to pick up on her sarcasm and dry sense of humor. "Is there room for me?"

Jade gawked, amazed at how incredibly stupid the boy on the other line was. She called Beck an idiot, but she was rather lucky compared to who else she had to put up with. Okay. Usually his level of stupid was fun to tease, but. She was already wound up and he was being even _more_ stupid than usual and her stupid stupid stupid boyfriend wasn't doing anything to help her mood. A little bit of yelling wouldn't hurt anyone, right? "I HOPE that there's room on your BODYfor all the places I'm going to KICK you once I get out of—"

Before she could say anymore, Beck pressed the 'end' button on his phone, cutting her off. Threatening their friend wouldn't do any good. At least... not right now. Jade huffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, but she said nothing.

 _Interesting._ Usually she'd scold him for cutting her off. She sure was acting different today.

Utilizing the free moment, he typed a quick text message to Andre—er, Robbie. _Dude, can you please just tell someone what's going on? We are definitely stuck. Please reply with updates. Thanks._ Jade commonly made fun of how he refused to type in anything but proper grammar, but he couldn't really help himself. He'd always felt silly using abbreviations and things like that, even if it was the 'cool' thing to do.

After he locked his phone and put it back in his pocket, he noticed how closely Jade was standing next to him. When did that happen? Was that so she could yell at Robbie? Was she just noticing this too? Or... did she stand this close to him on purpose? Was she trying to make him uncomfortable... make him crack and apologize for whatever he did wrong and hug her? Was this what this whole timid, shy, silent treatment was?

It wasn't. Jade knew this, of course. But, as she stole a glance up at her boyfriend, it was obvious that he was clueless. Yeah, she'd stepped this close to him on purpose. But it wasn't to make him uncomfortable or anything. She just... didn't feel like fighting. And, in her opinion, she'd made that pretty clear. He'd even _smiled_ at her just a second ago, for God's sake! Weren't they supposed to be okay? Sure, she was still pissed about Beck and Vega and her ever-so-vague surprise plans for him getting ruined, but... whatever. This wasn't the time. And one thing that she absolutely adored about their relationship was their physical connection. They could communicate through a shrug or an eye roll, a tap on the shoulder or a light kick in the shin. So... sue her. She wanted to get close to him so they would drop the talk and just... be with each other. This was a prime opportunity for alone time, after all.

But, whatever. Nothing ever worked out like it was supposed to with him anyway.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Jade studied her fingernails, picking at the chipped black paint. Beck ran a hand through his hair, furrowing his brow. How long had they been stuck by now? Ten minutes? More? She still hadn't moved... Was this her version of a white flag?

For some reason, Beck wasn't entirely ready to accept her surrender. For once, he wanted to be the angry one. Of course, that role didn't come easy to him. He didn't even know how she would handle it. And, to be honest, he didn't really know how _he_ would handle it. Maybe it was time for him to surrender as well, even if it felt a little wrong. Besides, it kind of seemed like something was up with her. After that huge scene she'd caused... was that just Jade being irritated by petty things like usual, or was something actually wrong?

Okay. Fine.

"Uh," he began, causing her to flick her eyes up at him. "I didn't know that Robbie was coming to the hospital too. Did you?"

Ha! Was he _serious?_ Jade sighed loudly, dropping her hand and narrowing her eyes. She glared up at him, still maintaining the close proximity between them. Yes, this time she _was_ trying to make him uncomfortable. Maybe he hadn't meant to engage her, but he definitely had. And since their fight earlier had been cut off, it was only fair. Sure, she might regret this later if the two of them ended up getting hurt, but. It was better than this awkward silent thing. Fighting and yelling was _her_ territory. It was what she knew. She could handle this.

Besides. It's like he was _begging_ her to start a fight with him. So... if he insisted. " _I_ didn't even know that _we_ were going," she hissed. "And you expect me to keep tabs on that giant afro, too?"

 _... Okay._ Beck frowned, unable to stop the heavy sigh that escaped his lips as well. So much for playing nice. It was like they were playing a game. One person would try to make peace, and then the other would only wind them up further. Well... whatever. He'd entertain a fight for once. It wasn't like they were going anywhere soon.

"Jeez," he sighed, looking down at her. "Why do you try so hard to make fun of all of our friends?"

 _"Oh!"_ she exclaimed, her eyes widening. Fuel to the flame. She could see that the sparks were spreading to him, too. It was about time. She didn't mind increasing the rate a little, though. Egging people on was her specialty. "I think you mean _your friends_ , Beck. It's not like _I_ chose any of them!"

Beck scoffed. "Well, it's not like I'm forcing you to hang out with them!"

"You SIT with them! And you HANG OUT with them!"

"Because they're my friends! You don't have to!"

 _A screaming match._ Beck had used this term before to describe their fights, and he couldn't help but apply it now. They could go from having a calm, pleasant evening to an intense argument only minutes later. Their comebacks were fast—one after another, in quick succession. They _excelled_ at screaming matches. They could go pro.

"Well, I'm your _girlfriend!_ What am I supposed to do?!"

He shook his head, frustrated to his very core. "Oh, now you're asking _me_ to make a decision?" He rarely engaged her like this, and he knew that he would regret it later. It was an unspoken agreement between them—she'd heat up, and he'd cool her down. And then things would be okay. But now they were both on fire, and there was no water in sight.

Jade was about to pull her hair out. Although she usually loved picking fights with him, they were always petty; meaningless. But fights like this... she absolutely dreaded. They'd had so many of these in the week before they broke up, and all of them had been torturous. He was supposed to put up with her—be her catalyst. Shorten the time of her outbursts and her episodes. Listen to her. Be her impulse control, her voice of reason... not this. Not yell back at her. Not push her back.

She hated when he pushed back.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" she demanded, her entire body radiating with anger—the fire spreading, flames licking her hair, her cheeks. She knew what he meant, of course. But she wanted to hear him _say_ it. Not do the passive-aggressive thing he always resorted to.

Beck scoffed, not even thinking before responding. "Both of us know that you're the one who makes all the decisions in our relationship."

"And you never seemed to have a problem with that until now." She'd already had her reply ready. Whether or not Beck was aware of it, she knew him like the back of her hand. Just as well as he knew her. Which is why they were _oh-so_ good at insulting one another.

"There are a lot of things I have problems with, actually."

Just as he said it, his phone buzzed. Saved by the bell. Beck was desperate for an interruption to their fight. As soon as he'd said it, he'd regretted it.

As frustrated as he was, he hated conflict. And... he couldn't help it. The idea of being in an enclosed space with Jade while she was this upset was a little scary—even to him. While he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he caught a glimpse of her. Although her brow was still furrowed and her lips were still white with anger, her eyes seemed... distant.

It was true. They were good at insulting each other. Too good. Beck knew just how deep her insecurities ran, especially those involving their relationship. No matter how much she may have pushed him, he shouldn't have said that. The rational part of him knew that. The rational part of him was sorry. But the irrational part... couldn't focus on much else besides anger right now.

Beck glanced down at his phone. Sure enough, there was a new text from Andre-Robbie.

 _they called the fire department but it doesnt seem like they can get u guys out anytime soon. call me 4 details if u want. sry. ily_

... Oh no.

He looked up at Jade, who was still flaming, her eyes glaring up at him. They were still dangerously close. And she was still dangerously angry. And they were still trapped in this goddamn elevator, their rescue seeming so, so far away.

And he had no goddamn clue of what to do next.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: ok final chapter! sorry this took a bit to actually write... hope everyone enjoyed!**

* * *

After checking her watch for perhaps the millionth time that night, Jade silently noted the time.

It was _5:00_. About an hour since they'd gotten trapped in here. The time they were _supposed_ to be full on their way to the drag race together.

Although she was embarrassed admitting it to herself at the time, she'd actually been really excited about seeing the look on his face when she presented him with the tickets. Drag racing was a passion of his that he always wanted to share with her, so she'd decided to surprise him. After about a week of contemplation and website lurking, she'd finally purchased the tickets, knowing that, even if the competitors weren't all that great, her boyfriend would at least be impressed by the fact that she'd thought of him.

Which, of course, she did. She thought of him all the time. But it wasn't really anyone's business.

But. Whatever. Even though she woke up feeling nervous earlier that morning, she'd simply promised herself that there was nothing wrong with being thoughtful—even though it went against all of her natural instincts. _Besides_ , she'd thought to herself as she examined herself once more in the mirror, _what could go wrong? He's Beck, after all._

Sometimes she really hated just how "Beck" he was. Why couldn't he put her first just once? Why did he always have to care so _damn_ much about Tori and never, ever ever about her? Sure, she was being irrational. But it wasn't like that was anything new. It seemed like the only times she could _actually_ get his attention were when she lashed out like this. Trying to play nice royally messed everything up, didn't it? No good deed goes unpunished.

Beck, on the other hand, spent most of his time on the phone. Robbie had filled him in on most of the details and was sending him regular updates, which he grudgingly reported back to Jade. The fire department had finally gotten there after about a half an hour of sitting in awful Sunset Boulevard traffic, but they were having lots of trouble trying to actually _open_ the doors of the elevator. Rex was continually chastising Beck over Robbie's shoulder, telling him that "he couldn't have picked a _worse_ place to get his elevator stuck" and that "at least Robbie's not in there with them," which, honestly, did make Beck feel a little better.

But, still. They were _trapped_ in an elevator, with no food or water or—wait.

Forgetting about his frustration for a moment, Beck locked his phone and then looked up at Jade, furrowing his brow.

She met his gaze, cocking an eyebrow in return. She was trying to appear nonchalant, but, honestly, she was thankful for the fact that he was actually acknowledging her again. "Yes?"

"Do you... Do you have any food?"

Jade scoffed, amused. "No, dummy. Don't you think I'd have eaten it by now if I did?" But the disappointed look on his face made her pause. Damn him for still getting her sympathy after what an ass he'd been all day. She was the one who should've been pouting like that. But, with a sigh, Jade pulled her purse on her lap and shuffled through it, looking for anything edible.

"I have some lipstick," she deadpanned, pulling it out and waving it teasingly in front of him.

A small, boyish smile crept onto his face. "Haha." Then, after a moment of hesitation, he gestured to the empty space next to him, offering for her to sit beside him.

"What's that?" she immediately questioned, the teasing smile disappearing off of her face.

"You know what."

"So... what?" she demanded. "It's been almost an hour of being trapped in this tiny metal box, and you _finally_ ask me to sit next to you?!"

"Jeez." Cue a hand running through his hair, once again falling into that I'm-Beck-and-I'm-completely-faultless-and-can-do-no-wrong routine. She wished he would fucking quit it, especially since it was just the two of them in there. No one else was around to see him admit to being an asshole. Or was that still so hard for him? _There goes Jade, overreacting over nothing again! It's not like anything is ever Beck's fault, right?_

Jade thought he would've said more—he _should've_ said more—but, no. "Jeez" was the only word he decided to grace her ears with. She might as well return the favor, then.

"Whatever," was all she said, shoving the lipstick back into her purse and crossing her arms over her chest.

Beck knew he should've just shut up then, letting the awkward silence sit between them until their rescue finally came. But... he was still pissed, and they had nothing else to do, and in that exact moment, he was lacking any and all self-control. "I was just trying to be nice," he grumbled. He hated the way he sounded when he was upset—whiny, rude, cold... the exact opposite of what he wanted to be seen as. But if anyone was going to see him like that, it was gonna be Jade.

"Well, don't," she shot back.

"Why? Because I'm bad at it?"

"No. Because you're obviously pretty damn pissed off at me, so I'd rather not pretend like everything is 'okay.'"

Beck sat up a bit, intrigued. "Oh? So you're saying that things _aren't_ okay?"

"Save it," she sighed, rolling her eyes. Beck loved provoking her, and he was really damn good at it sometimes. But she had bigger fish to fry. "We're either gonna be arguing about this now or later, so let's just get it over with." After waiting a few seconds, seeing if he was going to respond or not, she sighed again. "Here, okay? I'll start. Uh... How about I say something mean about Tori, and then you yell at me about it? And then we'll see where we go from there."

If nothing else, Jade West was a masochist. And Beck knew it very, very well. It wasn't like she could really help it, though. When you hate yourself, it's hard not to try to sabotage every relationship in your life. But Beck usually thwarted all her attempts to mess up theirs. Which is why, even if she didn't really say so, she would probably never stop being grateful for him. If Jade was honest with herself, she would probably throw herself off a cliff if it meant he'd kiss her afterwards.

Beck recognized that she was being hard on herself. Of course he did. It was his job as Boyfriend to calm her down when got angry. So... why wasn't he? Why couldn't he let go of his damn pride and just... comfort her? Despite how irrational she sometimes was, he did love her. All of her. So why was this so hard?

Maybe she was right. Maybe they just needed to argue for a while.

... No. That was stupid. Beck had given her enough of a hard time already, hadn't he? This was stupid. Really really stupid.

Everything was kinda stupid.

"I just..." he began, running a hand through his hair. "I just wanted to do something nice for our friend. And since you agreed to come with me... I figured you wanted to, too." Like he had earlier that afternoon, he tried very hard to keep his voice level. An even, unaccusing tone and 'I statements' were always effective with Jade. (i.e. 'Because you dumped coffee on Tori's head, _I_ felt like that was a really stupid and mean thing to do, especially because it was, like, her first day here. _I_ felt like you were being a complete asshole.')

... Okay. Maybe that wasn't the best example. But they worked most of the time.

"Well, that was stupid," she retorted, all humor absent from her voice.

Beck couldn't help but chuckle, and Jade fought back a small smile in response. "Haha, yeah, I guess..." He trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what else to say. So, he simply said what was on his mind. "I... I can't tell if we're fighting or not."

Jade looked up, letting out a soft laugh. "I don't know, _are_ we?" In response to the frustrated look that appeared on his face in response, she decided to cut him some slack. "...No, I guess not. I'm pretty annoyed with you, though."

He grinned, despite himself. "It's okay, I'm annoyed with you too."

Although in any other situation she would've cursed him for saying something like that, Jade simply let his words hang in the air. She would ruminate on them later, probably during some unfortunate time like the middle of the night, keeping her from sleeping. Although he didn't mean statements like that to be harmful, especially because she had said much worse things to him before, they still stuck with her.

Whatever.

Instead of snapping at Beck, she surprised herself by standing up and walking over to him. She silently slid her back down the wall beside him, sitting next to him on 'his side' of the elevator. She saw him look up at her in surprise, and the smile that appeared on his face showed that he was as relieved as she was to close the distance between them.

The end of a war always starts with a white flag.

"Okay," she began. "I'll tell you why I'm annoyed with you if you tell me why you're annoyed with me."

"And why do I have to go first?"

"Because I said so."

Beck laughed again at that. There was a familiar, almost comforting feeling that came from being bossed around by Jade. If he was honest, it seemed _wrong_ to make any decisions without her shouting her opinion on what to do over his shoulder.

"Okay," he agreed. "I... I don't know. I didn't like how you made a scene in front of everyone."

Jade snorted. "Even though _you_ were the one who started the argument in the first—"

"Hey, it's my turn," he interrupted, shaking his head. "You can talk when I'm done."

Jade raised her hands in surrender, rolling her eyes, but she didn't say anything more.

"Anyway. I _also_ didn't like how you were acting so... I dunno, hostile earlier. And I wish that if you _really_ didn't want to go see Tori in the hospital, you would've told me before I drove us here and this whole mess started."

After a few moments of silence, she cocked a brow. "Oh, is that all? That's a shorter list than normal." When he didn't respond, she continued. "... Look. I'm sorry, alright? Sure, I guess I feel a _little_ bad that Vega had surgery and whatever, but. I don't know. I would never choose to visit her and bring her flowers and feed her ice chips or whatever you were planning on doing."

Beck furrowed his brow. "Well. Then... why didn't you just tell me that? Why go with me?"

She laughed, albeit a bit coldly. "Because _you_ were going."

"So... what? You'd rather be trapped in this stupid elevator arguing with me than have to spend a couple hours without me?"

Jade looked down, chewing on her lip. She couldn't tell if he was making fun of her or actually trying to understand her. Nevertheless, she was still embarrassed. Her fingernails dug into her palm, trying to stop her cheeks from going red. _Of course she'd rather be spending time with him than not._ Even if they were only apart for an evening, she still missed him like crazy. Of course, Beck probably thought that was stupid. He'd probably rather be spending his time with Andre or Vega or whatever.

She'd be the first to admit that she was much too possessive for her own good.

In desperate need for a way to change the subject, Jade narrowed her eyes and adjusted her expression, putting on the 'I'm too above emotions to care' facade everyone was so used to. The one Beck barely got to see. "Here," she muttered, digging into her purse until her fingers met with two familiar pieces of thick paper. "Here's why I'm annoyed with you."

She shoved the tickets onto his lap, deliberately not meeting his eyes.

After studying them for a good ten seconds, she could almost _hear_ the realization occurring through his thick skull. "You," he began, gripping the tickets between his thumb and index finger tightly. "You... got us drag racing tickets?"

Jade huffed. "No. I got you and Robbie drag racing tickets," she quipped, hiding under her familiar safety blanket of sarcasm in order to hide her nervousness.

"That's..." Beck searched in vain for a word to use to describe how he was feeling. Throughout their entire relationship, Jade had displayed nothing but contempt for this particular interest of his. He wouldn't have ever expected her to even _agree_ to go with him to one of the races, much less buy the two of them tickets. Today didn't seem to be anything special either—he tried to keep up on as many birthdays and anniversaries he could, and Jade usually ended up not-so-subtly reminding him anyway. So... why?

"I don't get it," he mumbled. "Why did you do this?"

She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes. "I don't know. Because you've been bugging me about it for years, so."

Beck opened his mouth to say more, but something written on the tickets in his hand distracted him. The race was supposed to start at 5:00. And, seeing as how they'd only gotten around to actually leaving school at about a quarter to 4:00, there was no way they'd be able to make it now. Especially seeing as how they were still sitting on the floor of this hospital elevator. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and, sure enough, it was almost 5:15.

 _Shit._

"Why... why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" he murmured, his voice soft. Usually, when she got him a present, she made a huge show out of it. He could never really figure out if it was because she was proud of herself or she just wanted his praise, but he'd always figured it to be a mix of both. This—purchasing tickets without telling him and planning to surprise him with them after school—was completely unlike her.

"I don't know," she repeated, tugging roughly at a strand of her hair. It hurt like hell, which served very well as a distraction from just how damn _embarrassed_ she felt. "'Cause you wanted to see Tori and I knew you'd be pissed if I told you we couldn't."

Noticing the way she was pulling at her hair—an anxious habit of hers—he gently detached her fingers from the strand and laced them through his. Jade simply blinked in response, but she internally cursed her heart for leaping at the small gesture. With just a touch, she was reminded of just how much she belonged to him.

"I wouldn't have been pissed," he said, running his thumb over her knuckles absentmindedly. "I mean... I would've felt a little bad for being the only ones not to visit her today, but. It would've been a lot more fun to go drag racing together." He squeezed her hand lightly, grinning to himself. "And don't doubt for a second that I'm not gonna refund these tickets and make you go with me another day."

"Oh, God," she muttered, but she couldn't help but smile back. Then, without even wasting a moment considering it, she leaned up and planted a quick peck on the corner of his mouth.

And, just like that, the war was over. It was actually a little surprising that they hadn't stopped fighting sooner. In the last year or so of their relationship, the two's fights had become more and more petty, and arguments were started simply out of habit rather than genuine anger. One thing was and always would be the same, though—their fighting always ended with a kiss.

"You missed," he said, and caught her lips in a kiss before she could lean back down. Then, quickly slinking his arms around her waist and pulling her onto his lap, he tipped her backwards, planting another kiss on her neck.

She couldn't help but release a small giggle in response, swatting at his head with her hand. "Stop it!" she demanded, but her command contained less enthusiasm than normal.

Beck grinned wider and tipped her even farther back, causing both of them to topple onto the floor, his chest pressed against hers.

"Stop!" she cried again. "You're heavy."

"No, I'm not!" he laughed, kissing underneath her chin.

"The fire department is going to be here any minute to get us out of here," she chided, still grinning.

"Not with our luck," he murmured, and then leaned down to kiss her again.


End file.
